"Little Jing. Wake up."
A gentle and soothing voice spoke to her full of affection.
Snowy didn't recognize the voice, yet, she felt it was very familiar. She felt it had been more than a million years since the last time she had heard the voice, but Snowy didn't remember where she heard it or who the owner of the voice was.
But how could it be? As far as she remembered, she had always been a system before she was coming into being—a collection of records powered by enormous processing capabilities whose sole purpose was to assist another being in becoming supreme. She had no awareness nor consciousness in that state. So, how could she have a sense that very much resembled a living being like "hear" a voice?
The incongruity of her existence struck Snowy with an uneasiness.
Snowy repeatedly checked the records in her memories but got no information before her first assignment as a System. Her questions were left unanswered.
"Little Jing. Wake up."
The voice once again resounded in her mind, and it was getting louder and more apparent.
'Who is this Little Jing?' The only name she ever had and needed was Snowy—it was given to her by Feng Xue, and it was precious to her. Why did the voice persistently called her Little Jing then? She felt both annoyed and curious.
Thinking about Feng Xue, Snowy remembered that she was with Feng Xue before she fainted. 'She must be distraught...' Feng Xue would be irritated with her temperament and immediately scolded her for recklessness when she woke up later. She let out a small chuckle as she imagined Feng Xue's scary yet adorable face.
"Little Jing. Wake up."
The voice called her for the third time. This time, the voice not only appeared in her head but also reverberated across the corridor.
Like a chain of events, the corridor's wall shone brightly without warning. The emitted light superimposed with each other increasing its intensity and bedazzling Snowy. Snowy's eyelids hastily shut themselves off in reflex.
After the light slowly receded, Snowy wanted to open her eyes but strangely she couldn't! She tried several times, but her eyelids still won't budge.
Suddenly, a chain of chirping sound intruded into Snowy's ear. 'These are sounds of birds,' Snowy could hear them clearly and recognized them instantly. The chirps were from many kinds of birds, each of their songs coming together to make the dawn chorus as rich as any symphony.
And then a mix of sweet scent lingered around her nose, tickling her nostril. Sometimes it was mild and calming; sometimes, it was intense and intoxicating. It was as if she were in the middle of a flower garden.
Snowy realized that she was in a different place now.
"Little Jing. Wake up"
The insistent voice sounded once again, but this time it was coming directly from her front.
Snowy's eyes slowly opened, responding to the voice. Unlike her last attempt, she did it effortlessly. She found that her eyes still dazzled thus, she blinked rapidly to regain their focus.
"Why are you always so cute when you wake up?" Snowy saw a blurry figure in front of her poking her nose while letting out a peal of pleasant-sounding laughter. From the shape of the figure, she barely discerned that the person was a woman.
'Who is this woman? I can't see her face clearly,' Snowy wanted to lean her head forward to look closer at the woman's face but her body didn't obey her will. 'What happened to my body?!' she tried to lift her hands and move her feet, but nothing happened.
'Did this woman do something to me?' she thought suspiciously of the woman who suddenly appeared in front of her and gave her lap pillow. 'What with this position?! Why I suddenly sleeping here?!' Snowy didn't aware until now that her head was resting comfortably on the woman's soft lap.
Before Snowy could regain her composure, her body abruptly moved and sat down beside the woman without her commanding it. She finally understood that she wasn't in control of her body. She was like a bystander watching an event rolled using another person's eyes, to be precise Little Jing's eyes.
Then, her head turned to look at a pipa held by the woman. She instantly connected the dot and figured the woman's identity. 'She must be the Goddess of Knowledge and Art' she thought.
When the Goddess perceived Snowy's gaze, she gave her a gentle smile and asked with a sweet voice, "Do you want me to play a song for you?"
Snowy's head moved up and down as an answer.
The Goddess adjusted the position of the pipa to a more comfortable position and start plucked its strings one after another.
Zing. Zing. Zing.
The strings vibrated producing both high-pitch tones and low-pitch tones that connected harmoniously. The chirping sound she heard previously sang once again and fitted perfectly with the melody.
Snowy recalled the song was exactly the same song she had performed at the auction. At that time, she was confused because she could play the song flawlessly even though she never heard of it before. Now the puzzle pieces finally fit together.
'So, I was once very close to the Goddess and my name was Little Jing' Snowy felt very complicated emotion swirling in her heart. If her conjecture was correct, something terrible must have happened to her that she was turned into The System.
What happened to the Goddess then? Why was her pipa had been found in Eastern Region? Was that the reason for her first appearance after gaining a body was in Eastern Region so she could find the pipa?
Although her mind was currently in chaos, it didn't show on the body she was currently in. She was still smiled and hummed following the song.
Not long after, the song reached its end and Little Jing clapped her hands enthusiastically.
"I name this song "A heart that matters". Do you like it?" The goddess patted Little Jing's head and carefully placed the pipa beside her.